Figwood and giant flytrap spine
by Rumour of an Alchemist
Summary: Alternate universe where Voldemort simply inexplicably disappears on Hallowe'en 1981, as far as wizarding Britain knows, without going anywhere near the Potters or Longbottoms. Updates only occasional, but story not abandoned. Canon going out the window. Punctuation amended November, 2014. ON HIATUS.
1. Disappearance of a dark lord

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following is set in an alternate universe, where Voldemort went on one last muggle-hunting expedition to 'warm up' for the main event of Hallowe'en 1981. At which point, canon goes out the window...

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><p><em>Disappearance of a dark lord – wizarding Britain, 1981 to 1982<em>

With one significant exception, nobody who woke up in the wizarding world on the morning of the first of November, 1981, knew quite what had happened overnight, beyond the fact that for some reason Voldemort had disappeared, and the Death Eaters were falling apart in confusion. Soon the celebrations and trials were getting well underway though. The wizards didn't care that in a small provincial muggle town forensic investigators were picking over the remains of a muggle dwelling which had been apparently destroyed in a gas-explosion.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, possessor of far too many names, awards and offices, and headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in the vast majority of those who didn't know, and he had consequently spent several days picking over reports in the wizarding world of what had happened on the fateful night of Hallowe'en. There had been a prophecy. The Dark Lord had been supposed to be laid low by either Neville Longbottom or Harry Potter, and he _should_ have taken action against at least one of those boys and their families. Voldemort had believed in what he knew of the prophecy. Albus had certainly believed in it. So what had gone wrong? Both boys were still alive and well, although there had been a close call at the Longbottom house, when Bellatrix Lestrange had shown up in the wake of the Dark Lord's disappearance. Her cousin Sirius and a team of aurors had only just been in time to stop her from causing serious harm to Frank and Alice Longbottom with the Cruciatus Curse. Frank and Alice were a bit shaky, and subject to nightmares, but the healers at St. Mungo's were confident they would recover within six months.

Anyway, Voldemort had apparently failed to interact with either of his likeliest nemeses – and yet he had apparently completely disappeared.

Albus was baffled.

In December, Albus Dumbledore was approached by Severus Snape, who proceeded to give him six months notice. Severus informed the headmaster that since the Dark Lord had apparently been vanquished, and Lily and her family were now safe, he intended to leave Hogwarts and strike off in business on his own.

Albus argued about this a bit, but his heart wasn't in it, and there _had_ been grumbles from the students about Severus' rather acerbic teaching methods. Anyway, with the war over, Albus could bring Lily out into the open and give her the potions job, and a secure income and position in the magical world. Lily would be a _much_ better potions teacher than Severus, Albus was certain.

* * *

><p>A muggle coroner's inquest in January of 1982 determined that some sort of intruder had apparently broken into the home of two promising dental students on the night of Hallowe'en the previous year, and that there had been a struggle, in the kitchen, and that a gas explosion had somehow resulted. Whilst the bodies of the young couple whose home it had been had been identified, the identity of the intruder remained undetermined, although his possessions and samples of his blood were sent into storage, for future case reviews, should more advanced science become available. There was hardly any mention made of the couple's child, who had been removed by the appropriate authorities as she had no known relatives able and willing to care for her.<p>

Amongst the other, more casual, members of the public, the inquest was sat through by a black-haired man with a dark trenchcoat, who took many notes, and had some sort of press credentials which identified him as one 'S. Snape'. The fact that he was actually a moonlighting teacher from a school of magic in Scotland who was taking the week off teaching to 'allow his future replacement to familiarise herself with the job' was neither here nor there. Court officials who tried to do more than check his credentials were treated to a withering glare or scowl that functioned as an incentive adequate to discourage further interactions. Once the inquest was finally over, with an open verdict returned, he paused long enough to verify what official documents he could gain access to regarding the inquest, then departed, not to be seen in that courtroom again.

* * *

><p>Author Notes: (revised, March 2013)<p>

There are so many different accounts in fanfiction of who was or wasn't an auror, in the first wizarding war, that I'm unsure who was/wasn't in canon. For the record, the Longbottoms in this particular alternate universe are, and neither Lily nor any of the Marauders (as of 1981) are, although they sometimes worked with them, and James is certainly interested in training to become an active auror once the wizarding war is over. When Sirius turned up to help rescue the Longbottoms in November 1981, he was functioning in a purely civilian role at the time.

This originated as an experimental piece, the initial aim being to look at some of the goings on in an alternate universe where, as far as the wizarding population is concerned, Voldemort inexplicably vanished on Hallowe'en 1981 without interacting with any boy that might have been the vessel of prophecy intended as his nemesis.


	2. Moving on, Part I

(punctuation amended, 9th November, 2014)

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: As a reminder, the following takes place in an alternate universe, in which canon, after Hallowe'en 1981, goes out of the window.

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><p><em>St. Jude's Orphanage, June 23rd, 1982<em>

"We'll have this one thank you." the well-dressed, respectable-looking, young woman said, passing the file to the rather severe looking middle-aged woman who ran St. Jude's.

"Her?" the older woman said, arching an eyebrow in surprise. "She's not your average two year old. Her parents were killed during an attempted burglary which we think she partially saw, and she's rather quiet and withdrawn…"

"Her parents, according to your file, were upright, morally useful, members of society, and she looks _polite_." the respectable-looking young woman said firmly. "And if our Duddikins is getting a sister," she glanced at where a chubby boy was currently sitting on her husband's lap, tugging at his huge walrus moustache, whilst both chuckled, "then she has to be polite and well-mannered, from a good background."

The older woman pursed her lips, but having made her initial comment seemed not inclined to further try to dissuade this couple from adopting the girl in question.

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><p><em>The Hog's Head Pub, Hogsmeade, June 28th, 1982<em>

It had been James Potter's idea, of course, to have some sort of 'get togethers', of old Order of the Phoenix members, now that the war was well and truly over.

Severus Snape suspected that James Potter viewed the Order as an extended version of his old school gang, the Marauders, and he wanted to stay in contact with his other gang members.

Severus Snape had been invited along to this particular gathering by Albus Dumbledore, and he had hesitated for a long time over whether to attend, before coming down on the side of a late appearance on the basis that he had done considerably more for the Order than several others likely to be present, and he was going to be damned if the fact that James Potter had organised this event put him off. Severus had extracted a promise from the headmaster though that Albus would remind the meeting of Severus' role in the war – both bad and good – right at the start of this particular reunion, so that the members would at least have fresh in their minds what basis he had to be there. He still expected some glares to come his way – he had delivered information to Lord Voldemort which had put the families of two Order members at considerable risk, after all – but all the later work he had put in had ensured that no harm had come of that in the end.

Severus arrived in the private room at the Hog's Head where the function was being held somewhat later than he had been anticipating, the grading of a pile of fifth year exam work having taken rather longer than he expected – although this _did_ give him a genuine excuse for his late show. Inspecting potions and marking papers produced by imbeciles who didn't apparently know the difference between 'boil' and 'simmer' was one feature of his now all-but-over Hogwarts potions master career which he would _not_ miss, and he had snagged himself a glass of brandy from the bar on the way in. By this point the alcohol had been flowing at the party for some time, most members present were slightly squiffy, if not outright sloshed, and for some reason, Peter Pettigrew was hunched alone in a corner, being ignored by everyone but Albus Dumbledore, and looking thoroughly miserable.

Severus supposed that the fact that Peter had turned Death Eater had something to do with this – Pettigrew had been one of the first ones up before the Wizengamot on the charge of being a Death Eater immediately after Voldemort 'disappeared' and had spilled what names he could, a couple of hearings before the one where Albus had got Severus cleared in what was currently a record time – but Severus couldn't for the life of him see just _why_ even Pettigrew's old school friends had apparently turned their backs on him like this. Pettigrew had been a pathetic, snivelling, figure at his trial, and it was easy to understand how, given the pressures he claimed that Voldemort himself had personally exerted on him, he had been coerced into joining. Given he'd switched so close to the end of the war under such duress the authorities had been kind to him, and spared him an Azkaban sentence.

"Sheverush!"

A well-lubricated Sirius Black made a grab for Severus' arm, missed, and almost fell, before righting himself.

"Shu headmashter reminded ussh all jusht how Heroic you had been." Sirius slurred. He appeared to be blinking back tears. "It wash absholutely beautiful. Deshpite all shu crap we gave you at school, in a crishish, you picked shu right shide. Not like shat bashtard Wormtail. We should have gueshed it shough. Hish animagoosh shape's a rat, ashter all."

Severus was torn between wanting minimal contact with Sirius – even if the man seemed happy to see him for once – and the nagging question of whether Pettigrew had done something to annoy his fellow Marauders and Order of the Phoenix members beyond merely betraying them by becoming a Death Eater? It was a brief and unequal struggle, which curiosity won, not least because in this communicative mood, there was no telling what other secrets Sirius might spill. He'd just revealed Pettigrew was a rat animagus, which had Severus already pondering the Marauder codenames of 'Padfoot' and 'Prongs'…

"I only just arrived." Severus reminded Sirius, and swigged his cognac in a perhaps less-than-dignified fashion – but in his defence the exam papers of messieurs Goffle and Ringfine had been _particularly_ heinous. "Exam marking. I missed what was said earlier. Why exactly _is_ Wormtail" – he used the nickname, since Sirius had done so – "looking quite so miserable and isolated?"

"Jamesh and Lily made him share secret keeper for the fidelilush." Sirus explained, sending a particularly vile drunken glare at Pettigrew. "Shit wash a clever plan shoo fool Voldeblort, but we didn't know he had shold out and joined shu Death Bleatersh. Should have made you the shecret keeper, Sheverush. Volde would never have e'spected that, and you'd have never even thought of shelling Lily out."

There was a considerable amount of truth in that latter statement, Severus considered, although it was rather nasty for him to now find out just _how_ much danger the Potters _had_ been in at the end of the war. Voldemort had apparently kept the identity and defection of the Potters' secret keeper to himself, and if Severus' vigilance and discreet attempts to monitor Voldemort's location at _all_ times had slipped… well things could have ended _very_ badly for the Potters if Voldemort had personally gone after them.

* * *

><p>Author Notes:<p>

In this alternate universe I have assumed that whilst Death Eaters may have been pressuring Peter Pettigrew for some time, he 'went over' in the latter part of October 1981, and only Voldemort was immediately aware of Pettigrew's conversion. Once Voldemort vanished, Pettigrew panicked and ran to Dumbledore with a sob-story about having been personally tortured by Voldemort, hoping for leniency. Dumbledore probably wasn't fooled by the theatrics, and in any case wasn't interested in expending political capital on Peter's account, but the Wizengamot went easy on Peter anyway, because many of them _were_ impressed by his story, and anyway he _hadn't_ done anything obviously damaging to anyone (such as participating in raids, etc). James and Lily going under Fidelius with Peter as the secret keeper was sufficiently embarrassing for the Order of the Phoenix that it has not come out in public.

If this Severus Snape knew the Potters were going under Fidelius, he only heard about it second or third hand, and had no input to the decision-making process.

Sirius Black, on the occasion of the social event organised by James at the Hog's Head, has been comparing Severus Snape (bad guy turned sort-of-good) to Pettigrew (friend turned traitor who could have got other friends in serious trouble) in his mind for several hours, whilst becoming increasingly intoxicated. He has concluded (at least temporarily, whilst under the influence of alcohol) that Severus Snape is actually a pretty great guy, at least framed in the context of Wormtail...

As the sharp-eyed may have noticed, from the dates, Vernon and Petunia Dursley _did_ just get Dudley a sister as a present for his birthday... One of his friends at a creche (for those outside the UK, that's a sort of before-formal school establishment) probably had one, so he wanted one too, and what Dudley wants, Dudley gets. (Although his parents may have been thinking of getting one too, to have a 'complete' family with one boy and one girl.) Yes, I _could_ have invented an entirely new family to adopt the girl in question, but it saved me so much work to use the Dursleys, and offered me a contrast I (personally) enjoyed using, with canon.


	3. Moving on, Part II

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following occurs in an alternate universe. Canon after Hallowe'en 1981 goes out of the window.

Further Note: I took a diversion to cover some of the Peter Pettigrew side of things, since a couple of reviewers have expressed some surprise... Back to Severus next chapter.

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><p><em>Order of the Phoenix Safe-house, Godric's Hollow, June 29th 1982<em>

"I still can't believe he invited Wormtail." James Potter fumed as, wrapped in his favourite old red-and-gold dressing-gown, he stomped into the kitchen where Lily was cooking breakfast. It was the 'morning after', and the lord and master of the Potter household had a filthy headache and a taste to match in his mouth, which was not helping his mood. He spotted the glass of potion Lily had left on the table at his place, and knocked it back. Within moments, the headache was subsiding, and the vile taste assailing his taste-buds had evaporated. He put the glass down. "Thanks for that, Lils." he directed at her back. _She_ was wearing the kimono which had mysteriously arrived from an anonymous donor last Christmas, patterned with Japanese dragons, over James' favourite white nightie. Well that was to say that it was the nightie which James _most_ liked to see his wife wearing. He had sneaked into a shop in Diagon Alley a couple of years ago, narrowly avoiding a gang of Death Eaters, to buy it for her as a birthday present.

She made a sound which could possibly be interpreted as 'you're welcome', but given she currently had a wooden spoon clenched between her teeth as she tried to do half a dozen breakfast-related activities at the same time, it was difficult for James to be completely sure.

James sat down next to Harry's high-chair and grinned at him. Harry responded by flicking some of his porridge in the direction of his father, but it went sailing over James' shoulder.

"No, no. If you're going to grow up to harass the next generation of Hogwarts teachers, you need a better aim than that." James began, picking up his own spoon and reaching for Harry's porridge bowl to give him a demonstration.

"James Potter. Before you start giving your son lessons in food-fights, recall that _I_ am going to be part of the next generation of Hogwarts teachers, and I will put you in detention until Christmas as far as home-life goes if you start anything now and the pair of you do _not_ clean it up afterwards. Which, given your recent track record, looks good odds on the detention side."

Lily had apparently removed the spoon from her mouth now, and was down to only doing four different things.

James sighed, and put his spoon down. He suspected his wife must have some sort of magical all-around vision some of the time, given her apparent ability to see what was happening behind her back whilst she was busy with other stuff.

"Maybe another time, Harry." He said. He took Harry's hand, and started trying to get his son to eat the porridge instead. At least Lily wouldn't mind if they made a mess in the process of _trying_ to carry out an approved activity such as eating.

"I'm as cross as you that Albus invited Peter," Lily took up James' earlier comment, "and all I can think is since Peter's _not_ in Azkaban, maybe Albus has some crazy scheme to redeem him."

"Well he _should_ be there." James said. "I can't think how he fooled the Wizengamot."

"He had _us_ fooled, and we thought we knew him." Lily said. "A crowd of people who don't know him were probably child's play for Peter."

* * *

><p><em>Hogwarts, June 29th, 1982<em>

Albus Dumbledore was a great believer in redemption and second chances – especially for people with useful connections or positions.

Severus Snape was a prime example. The young man had fallen in with some very bad company at school, and made some exceptionally bad decisions – perhaps assisted by circumstances created by Albus himself due to the exigencies of the war which had been raging in Wizarding Britain at the time. But Severus Snape had genuinely repented, and come to Albus, tears running down his face, to plead for aid, and so Albus had welcomed him into the fold and gained a usefully placed spy in the Death Eaters. Not unreasonably though, now that the war was over and Severus' main motivation for coming out of the dark in the first place was safe, Severus wanted to quietly disappear, and Albus understood that. His debts were paid, and he wanted to move on and do other things with his life. And Albus was letting him go, because he wanted to part company with Severus on good terms _now_, in case he ever wanted him to do something in the future which would be better done willingly.

Waving goodbye to Severus, however, would have the effect of leaving Albus down a man with connections to the Dark Lord's followers, rather too many of whom would escape the coming trials with their fortunes mostly intact and their reputations dented but not destroyed. Albus had had hopes for Peter Pettigrew, as a potential agent in the seedy side of the magical world, keeping an eye on things in places where the headmaster of Hogwarts could not conveniently go. It was why, ever since Peter had escaped any Azkaban sentence at his Wizengamot hearing (without any _obvious_ influence having been used by Albus), the headmaster had been paying for Peter's bed and board in a boarding house in Knockturn Alley. It was why Albus had made sure that Peter knew about and why he had invited him to the little reunion James had arranged which took place in Hogsmeade yesterday.

Yesterday had proved nothing but a disappointment for the headmaster when it came to Peter Pettigrew, however. For Albus to begin to rehabilitate Peter and to be able to trust him, even partially, Peter had needed to show he was sorry when confronted with his former friends, and to attempt to apologise to those whom he had betrayed. Albus remembered well the tears of desperation and contrition he had once seen running down the face of Severus Snape. Peter Pettigrew, yesterday, had cowered in a corner like a terrified rat.

Albus liked to believe that nobody was, in theory, beyond redemption, but he was prepared to admit that there were certainly those whom it was, alas, impossible for _him_ to redeem.

It was going to be a nuisance being without a reliable marked Death Eater, former or otherwise, in the coming years, but Albus would have to live with that for now. And if Peter came up before the Wizengamot again… well: next time Albus _wouldn't_ be doing him any favours behind the scenes.

It would, he reflected, be nice if something were to happen to Peter soon, before the headmaster had to invent something to extricate himself from the embarrassing situation of continuing to pay Peter's bed and board.

* * *

><p>Author Notes:<p>

As I tend to do, I have taken the liberty of assuming the house in Godric's Hollow where Lily and James were staying under the _fidelius_ charm was a safe-house owned by the Order of the Phoenix. Any major Potter property would be far too obvious/well-known (even with a fidelius on top of it) to be completely safe to my mind, and it fits with the building just being abandoned and turned into some sort of monument (in canon) later.

In this story James and Lily have been living in the same house in Godric's Hollow as they were during the last months of the war, although there was probably high security (aurors, other Order of the Phoenix members) around them in the immediate aftermath of the end of the war. In the next month or so they move to Hogwarts, as Lily is going to take the Potions Mistress job there.

I have no comment to make on the question of whether James Potter would buy a nightie (night-dress) for Lily for her birthday on the basis of whether it was what she _actually_ wanted or what he wanted to see her in... The (needlessly?) risking his life to go and get one in person in the middle of a war when there are Death Eaters looking for him seems to me to be classic James Potter though.


	4. Moving on, Part III

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling, and I still don't own Harry Potter.

Note: This is an alternate universe. Canon, post 1981, is rapidly disappearing out of sight over the horizon.

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><p><em>Privet Drive, Little Whinging, July 4th, 1982<em>

Looking back, Severus Snape was unable to pinpoint the _exact_ moment he had decided that he was tired of being just a piece in other peoples' games, and would actually quite like to try playing himself, for once, instead of being simply played, but the feeling had definitely set in by Christmas last year. Hence the fact that he was now wrapping up what obligations he was aware that he still had, as best he could, before moving on to other things. And hence the trip now, for the second successive night, under cover of heavy disillusionment charms, to Privet Drive.

Severus Snape had studied under both Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore, and it had become apparent to Severus that everyone who was anyone had their own secrets which they held back, for possible mysterious later use. Severus had only one secret right now, and that was a two and three quarter year old girl – hardly an impressive seeming secret in and of itself – but it was _his_ secret and he was going to be damned if he didn't protect it from nosy, interfering, witches and wizards. Or at least that was what he told himself was the primary reason for these late night trips. It was nothing to do with being concerned for her safety, honest.

Warding a building, in a muggle residential area, whilst trying to maintain an invisibility effect, was a lot harder work than he had expected. Especially when, for whatever ungodly reason they had to be out at this hour, some sort of motorised vehicle came trundling along the road – usually at a moment he was trying to stand back in the middle of the tarmac for a broader view of number four and contemplating his next move.

He was making slow progress, but the point was that he _was_ making progress, and all without breaking the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

Severus still wasn't sure exactly _what_ had happened to Voldemort on that fateful Hallowe'en night, but the point was that at the very least, the girl had been present and a witness to it, and she bore some of the marks of it.

Severus wasn't sure, either, what cosmic joke or whim of fate had deposited the girl with Petunia Dursley of all people, after seven months or so in an orphanage, but it had happened, and at some point in the future it might prove quite important. Severus knew Petunia, from the days when she had lived in a considerably less leafy and much further north part of England, along with her parents and a sister called Lily who had been destined to become the future Mrs. Potter.

Under other circumstances, Severus might have worried about the girl ending up with Petunia, as it could have threatened the secret that she had been the sole (known) living witness to Voldemort's demise, but thanks to one James Potter (and to a lesser extent James' friends) Lily and Petunia no longer spoke to one another. The last Severus had heard, they didn't even write or send one another Christmas cards.

The verbal exchange at Petunia's wedding, regarding several of James' ill-judged pranks, had been _rather_ heated. It had apparently almost come to fisticuffs. Severus rather wished that he had been there, as he would have liked to have seen Vernon Dursley threatening James Potter with his fists, but alas Severus had not been invited.

So: no, Petunia would not be talking to Lily any time soon about the girl she had adopted, or what the orphanage files might have told her about the girl's background and history, thus this secret (whatever exactly it was) remained safe for now from the attention of the wizarding world.

And Severus was here, for the second night in a row, doing his damndest to make sure that with the passage of the years it would continue to remain safe.

* * *

><p>Author Notes:<p>

Severus Snape isn't too concerned about Petunia being a harsh carer, since he hasn't read any Harry Potter books which might give him insight into how Petunia treats Harry in other universes, and as far as he knows Petunia (and Vernon) actually want this girl having gone to the trouble of adopting her. (Contrast with canon Harry who is forced on them, unexpectedly.) However, he will occasionally take the trouble to assure himself that she's not being treated much different from the Dursley's natural child, Dudley.

At this point, as far as Severus is concerned this is a normal muggle child, born to normal muggle parents, extraordinary only in the tragic (and mysterious) circumstances surrounding her natural parents' demise. Despite what he tells himself, he feels a sympathy for her because she's Voldemort's last victim of the Wizarding war. The wards Severus is putting up aren't likely to be as powerful as I understand the canon 'blood wards' are supposed to be, but they will at least get the jobs done which Severus is interested in them doing.


	5. Moving on, Part IV

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling, and I still don't own Harry Potter.

Note: This is an alternate universe. Canon, post 1981, is rapidly disappearing out of sight over the horizon. This includes characters' views of one another changing.

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><p><em>Hogwarts, July 6th, 1982<em>

"Alright, Albus, what's so important…" Sirius Black came into the headmaster's study, clearly expecting to see Albus Dumbledore, and found Severus Snape behind the desk, a number of silvery vials of memories lined up in front of him. Fawkes was perched in one corner, and the Sorting Hat dozed on the mantelpiece, but otherwise the room was devoid of company. Even the usual headmasters' portraits were empty, the frames temporarily abandoned by their occupants for some other part of the castle.

"Where's Albus?" Sirius asked. "And what are you doing here, Snivellus?"

Severus' face tautened for a moment at the old insult.

"I called in what favours I have from Albus to borrow his office, with its pensieve, and get you summoned here by the headmaster. I want to share something with you." Severus fought down his temper.

"I don't know what crazy scheme you've got going, or why Albus is cooperating with it, but I don't want any part of it. I'm out of here." Sirius rounded on his heel. "Good…"

"Don't you want to know about your brother's last days, Sirius?" Severus called after him. "I'm trying to clear my slate of debts and obligations. I want to move on from the past, and as part of that process I want to at least offer you the chance to find out what I know about Regulus."

Sirius halted, in midstride, and very slowly turned around, his face a mixture of warring emotions.

"Why should I want to know about what my pathetic little brother was doing? He was a Death Eater, just like you."

"Yes, he was a Death Eater just like me, and just like me he started to have doubts I believe. Some serious doubts. Maybe doubts big enough to have got him killed for them. I don't know his ultimate fate, but I can show you my memories of his last days."

Slowly – very slowly – as if being dragged against his will, Sirius started to cross the floor back in the other direction. He drew his wand.

"Alright… _Snape_. Show me what you've got, and this had better not be any kind of trick on your part, or, Merlin help me, I'll hex your greasy head right off your shoulders."

* * *

><p>It was roughly three quarters of an hour later when they emerged from viewing the last memory in the pensieve. Sirius's mood had changed greatly.<p>

"Damnit, Snape, he was up to something. He didn't just want out, he had a plan to hurt Voldemort." Sirius said. "Why in Merlin's name didn't he try to contact me? Or someone neutral like old Slughorn, his former head of house, who could have passed a message to Dumbledore? I know Regulus and that wasn't his 'I'm scared, I'm running' face, but it was his 'I am a Black, of the Most Ancient and Noble House Black, and Someone is going to Pay for Crossing Me even if I Go Down in the Process' face. He had it in for Voldemort. Something Voldemort did must have really shaken him and pissed him off."

"I wish I could tell you more. The only other thing I know is that Regulus missed several raids and a meeting shortly after that, and Voldemort told the rest of us that he was a coward, who had deserted and paid the price. If Regulus did do anything Voldemort didn't seem to know what it was."

"Show me that one too." Sirius demanded.

Severus winced, but extracted a copy of the memory to oblige.

* * *

><p>A short while later, they emerged from that memory too.<p>

"You're right, Snape. Whatever Regulus did, Voldemort acted as if he didn't know the details. I'd have expected some rant about a pathetic plot he'd uncovered or crushed if he found out what my brother was up to. Is it possible Regulus could have died without going anywhere near Voldemort, but Voldemort would know?"

"Perhaps." Severus said. "I don't know all the workings of the dark marks. It's possible he may have had the means to know when any marked man or woman died, and who it was."

Sirius' eyes were haunted now, his expression moody.

"Thanks for this, Snape. You've given me something to think about. I'll go over all the places I can get to where my brother sometimes cached stuff, and see if he left anything for me." He hesitated. "This doesn't make us friends or anything like that, but at this point, if you want to, I'm prepared to start off with a blank slate with you, and see if we go forwards or back from there. Deal?"

"Deal." Severus nodded.

They looked at one another, awkwardly, eyeing one another warily for a long moment, neither quite willing to shake the hand of the other, but neither quite willing to go back to the adversity of the past. Then Sirius left.

Over on his perch, Fawkes cooed and crooned to himself.

* * *

><p>Author Notes:<p>

I'm not sure if Severus would have his own pensieve at this point (he wasn't working at Hogwarts long, and he's just quit his job) or how expensive/rare such pieces of equipment are, so to be on the safe side I had Severus borrow Dumbledore's office and his pensieve for privacy and security. Dumbledore left Fawkes to keep an eye on the two men, likely with orders to fetch him if they started to wreck the place, but otherwise left them to it.

This scene underwent one complete revision (it was originally going to take place on Sirius' doorstep, but for various reasons didn't play well, not least because there wasn't any means for Severus to conveniently disclose what he 'knew' to Sirius in a fashion whereby Sirius could make his own judgements and not trespass on Severus' privacy more than Severus desired) and some minor tweaking after that.

Severus is trying to move on from his past, which explains this scene – he wanted (if reasonably possible) to try and bury the hatchet with the man who once tried to feed him to a werewolf. This marks a considerable deviation from canon Severus, but the wizarding war's over now, this Severus doesn't feel obliged to Dumbledore or Lily over anything now, and he wants to take care of a few major pieces of business and then leave the wizarding world (his self-imposed duties at Privet Drive excepted) completely behind for a time. It seemed to me that Severus might consider Sirius (other than Death Eaters) one of his biggest currently active _potential_ enemies, and he wanted to do something about that - poisoning or otherwise eliminating the man not being an option, given they've in theory been on the same side recently, and Severus being a prime suspect if Sirius were to conveniently 'fall under a bus' or otherwise suddenly expire. Also weighing into the Severus of this alternate universe's decision to at least attempt this was the not too unpleasant way that an admittedly drunk Sirius treated him at the recent Order of the Phoenix gathering, at the Hog's Head.

I appreciate not every reader may find this scene or development of Severus' character to their taste. I would like to again emphasise the point I made in the note at the top of this chapter that this is an alternate universe, and some facets of it are going to go quite some way from canon as things proceed.

Thanks for all the reviews.

Update: (12th March, 2013)

I'm unclear on which Death Eaters were or were not 'marked' in canon during the first wizarding war. There's reference in canon in '_Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'_ in the 'Malfoy Manor' chapter to only Voldemort's 'inner circle' having the dark mark _at that time_, although it's unspecified from where Harry has got that information, and that's over a decade and a half on from the time and practices of the first wizarding war. For the purposes of this story I've assumed that Regulus Black _was_ 'marked', to which Severus makes oblique reference in his conversation with Sirius, on the topic of what Voldemort may or may not have known about Regulus' death.


	6. Moving on, Part V

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: This is an alternate universe. Canon, post 1981, is rapidly disappearing out of sight over the horizon.

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><p><em>Gringotts, 18th July, 1982<em>

"You are absolutely _sure_ about this?" the goblin behind the desk in the private interview room inquired. "_If_ – and that is a very **big** if, Mr. Snape – we at Gringotts do go ahead with this and employ our contacts to fix it up, we will expect you to deliver everything which we require, irrespective of whether you follow through with the training and getting the job in the muggle world; and you will find it vastly difficult to deliver on what we expect, I assure you, if you are unable to follow all the way through on your side of this arrangement."

"I'm sure about what I want, and that I have the ability to get it unless the system is as rigged in favour of cronyism ahead of competence as things like this are in the wizarding world." Severus Snape said.

Having experienced two different human wizard masters, and been barely fortunate enough to escape both, Severus had decided that being obligated to goblins for a fixed term couldn't be any worse. And at least goblins respected talent and those who had it.

The goblin behind the desk eyed Severus carefully.

"These humans aren't as bad when it comes to corruption and cronyism as their wizard counterparts. There's something apparently called 'the old boy network', but Gringotts has ways past _that_." and the goblin flashed its teeth. "Patronage involving the discreet exchange of gold speaks volumes in any world. And now, if you will excuse me for a while, I must go and confer with my colleagues regarding your proposed venture."

The goblin left the room, so Severus sighed and pulled out one of the newspapers he had with him – it was the _Daily Prophet_ and under a headline of 'Minister says illegal animagus will not escape Azkaban this time' featured an image of a comatose Peter Pettigrew being removed from a building on a stretcher by half a dozen aurors. There was an interview with 'newly signed-up auror trainee and registered animagus, James Potter', including a quote from him: "I always suspected there wasn't something quite right about Peter, ever since school. He always seemed to be able to get into places nobody else could, without being seen. It saddens me greatly to discover he was in fact an unregistered animagus."

Severus snorted. Apparently Potter had found a way to stick the knife into Peter. He wondered if Black had registered too, and suspected he probably had. Reporting Peter as an unregistered animagus wouldn't work unless they'd both already registered themselves, so Peter couldn't cause them any damage by squealing.

What a charming world he was hoping to leave behind.

Severus glanced over several other items in the _Prophet_, then folded the paper up and put it away. When the goblin came back, Severus was studying today's edition of the muggle paper _The Financial Times_.

"My fellow goblins and I have conferred and we believe that the risk to profit ratio is sufficiently favourable that we are prepared to go ahead with this." the goblin said, grinning broadly. "Unless you have any last minute doubts or queries, I believe that we will be able, as you humans say, 'to do business'."

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><p>Author Notes:<p>

Just a short piece I put together in between working on 'Saint Potter' chapters. I have no idea what James Potter's canon exam results are or if they would ordinarily qualify him for the auror service, but it seems probable to me that between Dumbledore (no doubt) being able to speak up for him, his being a Potter, and his useful Order of the Phoenix contacts, that James could probably get himself onto the auror training program as a 'special case' irrespective of whether he had the usual academic qualifications. Whilst I feel James' own preferred choice of career direction, with the war over and his being at a loose end, might have been something such as professional quidditch player, I can imagine a number of others around him (including his wife) leaning on him to 'get something respectable'. In this alternate universe, he has finally decided to look at the auror service (no doubt partially motivated by the fact that doing so will help _him_ to stay out of trouble for registering as an animagus a bit late, whilst he simultaneously drops Peter in a big pile of dragon dung for being unregistered).

Thanks for all reviews.


	7. Bastille Day in Sochi

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. In light of the fact that I've used a quote in the Author Notes section, I'd probably better make it also clear that I am not Agatha Christie, nor do I own Hercule Poirot.

Note: This is an alternate universe. Canon, post 1981, is rapidly disappearing out of sight over the horizon.

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><p><em>Sochi, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 14<em>_th__ July, 1983_

The current leader of the USSR was undertaking a series of anti-corruption measures and had discreetly requested (via backwater channels) the assistance of a number of other countries in tracking down public officials in his nation who were less-than-honest. Had the requests been official, those other countries would have naturally had to have turned him down, given the state of official relations that the USSR had with those other nations. Since any asking had been done purely unofficially, however, a number of financial experts and trainees could now be seen on paid leave or attending conferences on global initiatives which just so happened to be occurring at a number of locations around the USSR right now.

Severus Snape had had to add learning Russian to the pile of other subjects he was studying. Given that the USSR was one of the non-magical world's most important nations, he'd already been dabbling around the edges of studying the country and its language anyway – or at least as far as he could without being suspected of being a communist sympathiser. He'd similarly been studying France, Germany, the USA, Italy, China, and Japan – all of which had political and/or financial significance.

An important ability in the part of the financial world that Severus was moving in, these days, was to be able to tell when someone was hiding something, or outright lying through their teeth. Being a legilimens, Severus Snape had an advantage some might have considered rather unfair when it came to this – especially since he could carry out legilimency in some of its lighter forms without getting anywhere close to waving a wand around or engaging in other activities which would breach the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

Of course it didn't do to look _too_ certain in pronouncing straight off the cuff that someone should be sporting a nose of Pinocchio proportions or contending for the A.P.W.B.D. prize for obfuscation, as that would be outright suspicious, unless one occasionally happened to be wrong, and Severus Snape would rather be considered occasionally a bit slow and uncertain, but in the end always right than always certain but occasionally wrong. He'd had enough in the magical world of appearing occasionally fallible (and being Cruciatus cursed for it or given a Dumbledorean finger-wagging lecture) so as not to provoke suspicions in leaders paranoid about overly able followers.

Anyway, here Severus was, on a Thursday morning, on a seat on the sea-front in Sochi, whilst a senior official he just happened to be coincidentally here holidaying along with was talking in private with a Soviet official who _just so happened_ to be coincidentally holidaying here at the same time. The fact that all these people were here in Sochi at the same time had _nothing at all_ to do, officially, with the actions of a quite important local police officer who may or may not have a Swiss bank account…

Severus had his nose in an English-Russian dictionary, not caring much that this marked him as a foreigner – that would be obvious any time he opened his mouth, anyway – and was dearly hoping that the KGB would stop pestering him. So far there had been at least four different attempts by representatives to sound him out. Severus and the senior official he was (unofficially) here with might well be here to (off the record) assist the leader of the USSR in disposing of corrupt policemen who did nobody except themselves any favours, but apparently the KGB considered that they were still fair-game for recruitment attempts.

Severus heard someone politely clearing their throat and looked up to see a beautiful young woman with blonde hair and grey eyes perhaps a couple of years younger than himself who was wearing something he vaguely noticed that was grey. His initial thoughts were that this was the _third_ KGB honeytrap attempt of the month, although at least they were being more subtle about it this time – in the interests of a quieter life he was currently avoiding outright anywhere serving alcoholic beverages. He met her eyes, since it was apparently expected of him that he look at her, and launched a light legilimency probe. To an extent some thoughts were independent of language, and he didn't need to be fluent in a language to get a sense of what someone was thinking.

Apparently this woman was _not_ a KGB agent, but she _was_ genuinely intrigued by this solitary but dignified handsome figure sitting on the Sochi seafront, and was about to initiate conversation with him…

And the eyes themselves… there was _something_ about them that made them the most noteworthy eyes he could recall seeing since first encountering those of Lily Evans over a decade ago. In fact, whilst Lily's were unquestionably the most _beautiful_ eyes Severus had ever come across, these were possibly more _interesting_.

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><p>Author Notes:<p>

Thanks for the occasional reviews.

In the real world, Yuri Andropov is noted (amongst other things) for making moves against corrupt officials during his spell as leader of the USSR. I have no special insights into what was going on at the time, but it seems reasonable to me to imagine, given at least one Soviet military operation ongoing at the time, that 'official' diplomatic relations between the USSR and 'The West' were somewhat strained. So if any western assistance _were_ requested/supplied at the time in dealing with corruption... well it seems logical to me it would have been strictly off the record.

As regards the title of this chapter, it's purely an artisitic conceit that this this particular meeting occured on this particular day, some distant from the vigorous French celebrations. By way of explanation, I would like to note that Bastille day _is_ a celebration of the overthrow of an old regime...

I'll wrap up with a quote from the end of _Sad Cypress_ by Agatha Christie. Hercule Poirot is speaking with Peter Lord, regarding Elinor Carlisle. Genders aside, it seems sort of appropriate:

** Peter Lord, his face set and grim, said harshly: **

** 'She will never love me like that.' **

** Hercule Poirot said softly: **

** 'Perhaps not. But she needs you, my friend, because it is only with you that she can begin the world again.' **

** Peter Lord said nothing. **

** Hercule Poirot's voice was very gentle as he said: **

** 'Can you not accept _facts_? She loved Roderick Welman. What of it? With you, _she can be happy_...' **


	8. Dreams of Fire

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter. Just in case it matters, since I mention it in passing in this chapter, _Doctor Who_ is a genuine television series, but let me make it quite clear that I did not invent it, nor do I own it.

Note: This is an alternate universe. Canon, post 1981, is rapidly disappearing out of sight over the horizon.

Further Note: A brief detour to look in on Hermione in this chapter.

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><p><em>Privet Drive, Little Whinging, 20<em>_th__ September, 1983_

Hermione's fourth birthday the previous day had been a success, even if most of the friends had been Dudley's at the party, but it was of some concern to Mr. and Mrs. Dursley that their adopted daughter had occasional nightmares. It hadn't taken long, once her vocabulary became sufficiently developed, for Petunia and Vernon to figure out that these nocturnal disruptions must stem from the night Hermione's birth parents had been killed – which must have been a highly traumatic event for her to witness, since she was still having troubled sleep at times because of it almost two years on. They'd made (discreet) enquiries about the dreams with medical professionals, and been assured that what Hermione needed was security and comfort, and that with time the dreams _would_ fade.

So they did what they could for their precious Duddykin's sister and crossed their fingers and hoped…

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><p>Hermione Jean Dursley had horrible dreams sometimes, and they were always the same. There were a man and a woman who she knew were her first parents, and they were in a kitchen, when an evil space-monster burst in. It must be an evil space-monster, because he didn't look human, and the things he was wearing weren't normal clothes. He was just like one of those <em>Doctor Who<em> monsters, and just like them he had a stick like ray gun.

"Avada Kedavra!" the space-monster hissed some sort of battle cry at the man, and a green ray shot from his ray gun to kill the man stone dead. Then he pointed his ray gun at the woman, and hissed "Imperio!" and the woman's eyes went blank for a moment, and she started to dance jerkily and kick the dead man, whilst the evil space-monster hissed and hissed in laughter. Obviously the ray gun did mind-control too.

Then he pointed the ray gun at Hermione and hissed something else and there was horrible, horrible, pain, and then the woman managed to stop the mind-control and rushed at the alien, and he turned the ray gun on her and killed her.

And Hermione was hurting and angry in her dream – always hurting and angry – and as the space monster pointed the ray gun at her again, the cooker next to him exploded, and a huge fiery snake of blue and orange flame erupted from the wreckage and wrapped itself around him and _bit_ him, and made him dead and then everything blew up.

Hermione didn't like these dreams, but she was a big girl of four now, and she had to be brave whenever she had them, and slowly they were happening less often. And they weren't so bad or so frequent when she was here at home. There was a sense, here at Privet Drive, of something like a giant invisible woolly bobble-hat over the house, safe and protective, which she missed terribly when they went away anywhere for a night; missing it seemed to often make the dreams worse.

Sometimes when she had a really bad dream she cried a lot and went and found Mummy Dursley and sat on her lap, and they cuddled each other.

Daddy Dursley said if any freaky aliens showed up around here, then he and Hermione's brother, Dudley, would show them 'what for'. Hermione had no idea what 'what for' was supposed to be, but she always found his words reassuring.

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><p>Author Notes:<p>

Canon Harry is indicated to have only very vague memories of the attack by Lord Voldemort on the house in Godric's Hollow in 1981. Hermione is three quarters of a year older than Harry, and so it seemed to me that she'd have more of a recollection of the attack by Lord Voldemort in _this_ (alternate) universe on her home and (birth) parents, than canon Harry does, and that it would haunt her, especially in the years immediately afterwards. And as far as her trying to make sense of it would go, whilst I doubt Petunia and Vernon would want stories about witches and wizards around, it would seem to me that _Doctor Who_ might well be known of in the house, and that it would be possible for Hermione to rationalise that it's a horrible space-monster with a ray gun she sees in her dreams, rather than a deformed wizard with a wand.

To some extent Hermione can sense the protective wards Severus Snape has put over number four Privet Drive - they're where her idea of a giant invisible woolly bobble-hat comes from.

I've made some slight corrections/adjustments to earlier chapters, including rephrasing the odd section for 'better' reading, and expanding Author Notes in occasional places. Other projects currently occupy the greater part of my writing time/attention (I'm trying to finish off Alternate Scene by the Lake 4, and get another chapter of Saint Potter out) but I will be back to this (and to Severus) at some point.

The chapter title is mostly inspired by something the character 'Ignus' says in the old _Planescape: Torment_ computer game.

Thanks to those who have this on favourite/alert and leave complimentary and/or thoughtful reviews.


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